Manny King John
New York Times Bestselling Author Mark Mathabane’s New Book Has Advice to Offer Us About Race, Anger, Healing, and What We Can Do to Heal America’s Wounds and Diminish Our Anger!
The Lessons of Ubuntu: How an African Philosophy Can Inspire Racial Healing in America by Mark Mathabane
Mathabane touched the hearts of millions of people around the world with his powerful memoir, Kaffir Boy, about growing up under apartheid in South Africa and was praised by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton. In his new book, The Lessons of Ubuntu: How an African Philosophy Can Inspire Racial Healing in America (Skyhorse Publishing hardcover; January 2018; $24.99), Mathabane draws on his experiences with racism and racial healing in both Africa and America, where he has lived for the past thirty-seven years, to provide a timely and provocative approach to the search for solutions to America’s biggest and most intractable social problem: the divide between the races.
In his new book, Mathabane tells what each of us can do to become agents for racial healing and justice by learning how to practice the ten principles of Ubuntu, an African philosophy based on the concept of our shared humanity. By practising Ubuntu in our daily lives, we can learn that hatred is not innate, that even racists can change, and that diversity is America’s greatest strength and the key to ensuring our future.
Concerned by the violent protests on university campuses and city streets, and the killing of black men by the police, Mathabane challenges both blacks and whites to use the lessons of Ubuntu to overcome the stereotypes and mistaken beliefs that we have about each other so that we can connect as allies in the quest for racial justice.
Mark Mathabane is the New York Times bestselling author of Kaffir Boy. His articles on race and education have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, People, and other major publications. He has also been featured on numerous radio and TV shows, including Oprah, NPR’s Fresh Air, CNN, NBC’s Today, and Charlie Rose. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family.
